Bandsaw blade TPI

[bowhunter15]

I'm upgrading the stock 6TPI blade on my 9" saw. I have cut hickory and red oak with it but am not satisfied with the amount of drift and cutting performance. Short of buying a bigger saw, it sounds like a new blade will help. I will be cutting osage and ipe in small quantities (like 1-2 bow's worth).

Since ipe is especially hard, I was leaning towards a bimetal blade, 3/8" thickness (max my machine allows). SawBlade's website has some reasonably priced bimetal blades in 4, 6, 10, or 14 TPI. Any preferences on those? I'd assume 4 will cut the fastest in soft woods, however, most metal work calls for low speed and high TPI... and my thought process is that hard woods like ipe or osage might require a process that more closely mimics cutting metal? Should I order a 4 and a 10? They're only about $16/ea plus FedEx Ground shipping.

[macbow]

In my experience 3 TpI works well on IPE.
Less teeth lets it clear the sawdust better.

So if you can only go,down to 4 then that would be the choice.
With a saw that will only take 3/8 blade it is a big job to rip IPE.

[bamboo]

I bought a 10 tooth blade--it clogged in one cut

   -- on a 9" saw you need a light thickness blade [hard to bend a thick blade around 9"wheel]narrow is better too on a 9"

-skip tooth blade seem to cut better and last longer

[bowhunter15]

Well, the new blade made a big difference. Got the 4 TPI bimetal blade and set it up. The blade tracks MUCH straighter. The old blade also left a really rough cut surface, but with the new blade it's smooth. It still doesn't cut fast, but saw power is probably the limiter there.

[macbow]

Love new blades. I'm always waiting too long to change.

[LittleBen]

I find ipe really dulls the blade, and on a small saw, it slows to a crawl once a new blade dulls.

If I had a burn pit I would be roasting hot dogs over my 9" bandsaw. I don't so it just sits in my shop. I find I have more horsepower with a Japanese pull saw and some elbow grease.

[Bowjunkie]

Yep, love new blades. I just replaced the blade on my miter saw, wow what a huge difference.... new blade on my bandsaw too.... a 3/4", 3 tpi, and ordered a few more this morning. I think the ones I ordered are 4 tpi. Gonna put a new blade on my table saw this weekend.

I could use new blades for my jointer and planer too now that I'm thinking about it.

[Roy from Pa]

Nothing like a new blade. I just replaced the bandsaw blade and the 10 roller guide bearings. Makes a huge difference in the cutting. I use a 1/2" blade with 6 tpi, works good for the type of bows I make. I have a 3/4" with 3 tpi hanging on the wall for cutting into larger staves. Going to sell my jointer, haven't used it in 2 years. It can't have but 20 hours run time on it.

[bowhunter15]

I've seen a couple bigger 14/16" type saws used on CL. Seems like I can get something decent used in the $300-500 range. I really don't have that much more cutting to be done this year after the single ipe stick comes in. So it might have to wait.